The Golden Feather
by Crowlex
Summary: Crowley just wants to find Purgatory but finds himself in a situation that he never expected to be in. (Growley)


Finding Purgatory was no easy task for Crowley. It meant that he had to get his hands dirty, interrogating every creature he could find. At the moment, the 'father of all shapeshifters' sat in front of him. It was almost as if he was looking at a mirror as he stabbed his twin in the chest with the knife in his hand. His other self shouted in pain as Crowley huffed in frustration.

"Where is Purgatory!?"

The shapeshifter smirked up at him and Crowley couldn't help snort in amusement. It was weird seeing himself do that...

"Looks like I'll have to use my last card, mate. I did warn you."

Crowley snapped his finger and a baby shapeshifter appeared in his arms, cooing up at the demon. The other Crowley's eyes widened as the shapeshifter realized Crowley's intentions.

"How shall I go about doing this? I'll let you pick darling, as my little gift to you."

A malevolent grin spread across Crowley's face as his twin eyed the knife in his hand. He expertly spun it in his fingers, crimson red liquid glistening bright.

"Your very own son... cute lad," Crowley added softly as he looked at the now horrified shapeshifter. "It would be a shame to have to fillet him in front of you."

"Alright! I'll tell you, just don't hurt him!" Crowley looked at his other self suspiciously but immediately knew that the shapeshifter was dead serious as he gazed into the eyes. Another snap of fingers and the baby disappeared.

"Now that I have your attention, get to it," he said eagerly. His hard work was going to pay off. He turned around, his back facing the shapeshifter as he cleaned off his knife. When he spun back around to address the shapeshifter, he froze, the words caught in the back of his throat. There in front of him was a face he was all too painfully familiar with.

"Well well well, the rumors are true then." Gabriel's voice filled the silent room, golden eyes meeting amber. "A demon like you was actually infatuated with an angel."

"You've got to be joking. A demon like me has no feelings for anyone," Crowley denied, quickly recovering from the surprise. "And really? Angels? Those feathered pigeons would smite me before I even got the chance to say 'yo'."

"Oh Crowles, don't deny it -"

Crowley slammed into Gabriel so hard that the chair he was chained to tipped over backwards and smacked onto the concrete floor. Gabriel grunted on impact as Crowley grabbed the collar of his shirt, pulling it up as he stood over Gabriel so that the shapeshifter was forced to look up at the now furious demon.

"You have no right to call me that, you imposter," snarled the demon in a way that was more animalistic than anything, his cool demeanor now gone as he pressed the knife still in his hand down on Gabriel's throat.

Crowles... It was a nickname that the bloody archangel had refused to give up when Crowley had insisted that the name was too childish for his taste. When Gabriel refused to stop, he gave the angel a nickname of his own: Gabe. Gabriel loathed the nickname, complaining that Gabe made him sound like a kid. Crowley pointed out that the angel's behavior was worse than a kid's which earned him a painful smack over the head from Gabriel's wing.

He stared back into the face that he thought he'd never see again, even if it wasn't his archangel. Gabriel looked up at him, giving Crowley a lopsided grin as the shapeshifter recognized how much this was affecting the demon.

"You couldn't save him, could you?" Gabriel tilted his head, pursing his lips in a mocking manner. "And you call yourself the King of Hell. A king who couldn't even protect the one he loved has no right to use that title. How can you protect your subjects when you couldn't even handle saving one angel?"

Gabriel never took anything too seriously and Crowley had sometimes gotten extremely irritated, refusing to even acknowledge the archangel who would then try his best to apologize in his goofy way. When Crowley refused to budge, a serious side emerged from the angel. It was only in those rare moments that Gabriel addressed him with 'my king' or 'your highness' in a low tone that Crowley never knew the archangel possessed and it never failed to send a shiver down his spine. Crowley became less grumpy on hearing the titles, unable to stay angry at the endearing way Gabriel used them.

But the shapeshifter had made a valid point and deep down, Crowley knew it. He didn't deserve the title of a king at all...

_Gabriel had told him__**that day**__that he needed to stretch his legs and go out for a bit. The archangel told him that there was some angel business that had to be taken care of. Before Gabriel left, he managed to wrap his arms around the demon from behind, pulling Crowley into a hug with that stupid grin on his face. As Crowley struggled in embarrassment to get away while grumbling how immature the angel was, Gabriel spoke into his ear._

_"Crowles. You know that you'll always be my king right?"_

_Crowley stopped wriggling to get away, finding Gabriel's sudden mood change a bit odd._

_"You already know the answer to that, bird brain. And you'll always be my idiotic trickster, no matter how childish you are."_

_Gabriel chuckled at Crowley's reply, taking a hand to ruffle the demon's hair before releasing him. Crowley turned around letting out a huff and glared at the angel, his hair all messy and fluffed with a few strands sticking out in the wrong places._

_"Aren't you the most adorable thing ever," Gabriel murmured softly before giving a small peck on Crowley's lips. That comment made the demon shoot him an irritable look that only made the archangel smile fondly back._

_"Toodles, cutie patootie. I'll be seeing you soon." With a wiggle of his eyebrows and a wink, the angel disappeared in a flutter of wings. A single golden feather slowly floated onto the floor and Crowley stared down at it a moment before picking it up, his instincts screaming that something was wrong._

_Oh how right his instincts had been. After Gabriel had left, he had done everything he could to find out where his angel had gone. Back then, because he had only been a crossroad demon, he didn't have the resources and power a King of Hell possessed. It had taken quite a bit of time but he had finally found out exactly where Gabriel was and nothing could have prepared him for what he saw in the hotel that day._

"You're absolutely right," Crowley answered bitterly, looking down at the imitation of Gabriel with a pained look in his eyes before they went cold. "I couldn't save him… and I'll have to live with it for eternity."

Without warning, Crowley jammed the knife into Gabriel's chest, right where the heart would be. Gabriel gasped in shock and wrapped a hand around Crowley's, trying to prevent the knife from going any deeper. Crowley simply tightened his jaw and twisted hard, using gravity and his weight to push the knife in as much as he could. He watched as those golden eyes turned dark and lifeless. He pulled himself up straightening his back from having to bend over for the longest time, casting another look at the now dead shapeshifter who still retained the looks of his archangel as blood continued to pool into a puddle around him. It reminded him too much of how he had found Gabriel in that hotel - his lifeless form splayed out on the ground, with his wings that was ripped off in fire marking the ground in ashes - it was mind numbing and it felt like someone had shredded his heart into millions of pieces. It was a feeling that would never leave him.

Crowley snapped his finger for the last time as the shapeshifter's body disappeared and the chair was back in its upright position, the room looking clean as if nothing had happened. He closed his eyes, mentally and emotionally exhausted. It was pitiful, a demon like him losing control of his emotions like this… letting his feelings affect him... He threw his apron covered in blood on the back of the chair as he sat down in it, undoing his tie furiously and unbuttoning his shirt to reveal a necklace, the centerpiece being a single golden feather. He fingered it, watching it shine when the light hit it. How he missed his trickster...


End file.
